Film dryer



5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Max Alvin Shepherd ATTORNEY Oct. 15, 1968 M.A. SHEPHERD FILM DRYER Filed June 16, 1967 n'f -fi BY M Oct. 15, 1968 M.A. SHEPHERD 3,405,456

INVENTOR [1301K Max Alvin-Shepherd BY ,Wm-w-K ATTORNEY Oct. 15, 1968 M.A. SHEPHERD 3,405,456

FILM DRYER Filed June 16, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 49 54 Max AlvinShepherd E BY ME ATTORNEY M. A. SHEPHERD Oct. 15, 1968 FILM DRYER FiledJune 16, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Max Alvin Shepherd ATTORNEY Oct.15, 1968 M. A. SHEPHERD FILM DRYER 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 16, 1967INVENTOR Max Alvin Shepherd ATTORNEY U d W8 Pa e '0 Texas Filed June16,-1967, Ser. No. 646,703 8 Claims. (Cl. 34155) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An apparatus for drying photographic film which includes ahousing through which the film is'moved as warm air is circulatedthereover to dry sameQThe housing includes a plenum having vertical filmconveyor passages spaced apart and connected at the lower end. Ribbedresilient rollers are rotatably disposed in parallel relationship in thefilm conveyor passages and are arranged to grippingly engage the filmtherebetween so that as the rollers rotate the film will be conveyedthrough the housing and deposited on the outlet side. A continuous airflow circuit is provided in the housing and the plenum to circulateheated air about the film as it is passed therethrough. The filmconveyor rollers have spaced annular ribs thereon, and the ribs onopposed parallel conveyor rollers are spaced longitudinally and slightlyoverlap so as to grippingly engage the film passed there'between, toallow circulation of air between the ribs and to contact both surfacesof the film. The conveyor rollers are rotated by a continuous chainpassing through the conveyor passages which chain engages sprockets on'the conveyor rollers to rotate same.

Background the invention In the processing of photographic film, thefilm is dipped or passed through a developer fluid container and it isnecessary to dry same before use. Various means of drying same have beenemployed including the hanging of same on racks or passing same throughan oven on a conveyor. However, no means has heretofore been providedwhereby a film could be dried quickly and in production quantities in amanner to prevent the film from curling while being dried and in timedsequence so as to provide for uniform and thorough drying of same.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides a film dryingapparatus wherein the time of drying may be controlled, the film isconveyed through the dryer in such a manner as to prevent samefromcurling and wherein heated air is uniformly circulated over bothsurfaces thereof while it is being conveyed through the machine. Thefilm may be conveyed through the dryer device in continuous productionquantities without interruption, and is uniformly and thoroughly dried,ready for immediate use, upon being discharged from the machine.

The dryer device disclosed and claimed herein is particularly useful inprocessing photographic film in large quantities, such as in printingestablishments, producing newspapers, magazines, catalogs, yearbooks andso forth, wherein large numbers of photographs are reproduced andprinted.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a devicefor drying photographic film in a continuous production process.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device for dryingphotographic film wherein both surfaces of the film are subjected touniform application of heated air as it is conveyed therethrough.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device fordrying photographic film wherein the film is 3,405,456 Patented Oct. 15,19.68

maintained in flat state and prevented from curling while it is beingpassed through the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for dryingphotographic film wherein the film is uniformly dried as it is passedthrough the machine and is ready for production use upon beingdischarged from the machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device for dryingphotographic film in a continuous production process wherein the passageof the film through the machine may be timedso as to attain uniform andthorough drying of same. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuous film dryerdevice which occupies a minimum of floor space.

A general object of theinvention is to provide a film drying devicewhich is simple and relatively economical in construction and operationand which driesfilm in large quantities in a continuous processresulting in the saving of labor and other expenses in the productionprocessing of film.

Other and further objects of the inventionwill become apparent uponreading the detailed specification hereinafter following and byreferring to the drawings annexed hereto.

Description of the drawings In the drawings,

FIGURE I is a top plan view of the film dryer apparatus,

FIGURE II is a cross-sectional elevational view taken on the line IIIIof FIGURE I,

FIGURE III is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevational view taken onthe line III-III of FIGURE II,

FIGURE IV is an end view of the machine taken from the right end ofFIGURE I,

FIGURE V is a transverse sectional view taken along the line VV ofFIGURE II,

FIGURE VI is a vertical sectional view taken along the line VIVI ofFIGURE II,

FIGURE VII is a vertical sectional view taken along the line VIIVII ofFIGURE III,

FIGURE VIII is a vertical sectional view taken along the line VIIIVIIIof FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE IX is a sectional view taken along the line IXIX of FIGURE VIII.

Description of a preferred embodiment Numeral references are employed toindicate the various parts shown in the drawings and like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

The numeral 1 indicates a general housing or plenum for the device whichencloses and supports the various components thereof as hereinafterdescribed.

The numeral 2 indicates a drive motor housing, which extendstransversely of the housing and is attached thereto by means of mountingflanges 3, which may be welded, bolted or otherwise attached thereto.Preferably the motor housing is mounted in such a Way as to be removablefor repair and servicing of the drive motor. The drive motor 5 ismounted and secured to the frame by means of a mounting 4 which may beaffixed thereto by bolts 4a.

A ventilation screen 6 may be provided in the upper wall of the drivemotor cover 2.

The drive motor 5 rotates a shaft 7 extending therefrom, which in turnrotates a bevel gear 8, attached thereto. Bevel gear 8 interengages aright angularly disposed bevel gear 9 and rotates same. The bevel gear 9has a shaft 9a (FIGURE III) extending therefrom having a pair of drivesprockets 10 secured thereto which interengage the drive chain 11 tothereby rotate said drive chain.

The drive chain 11 is a double track drive chain, as indicated in FIGUREVI, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned.

The drive chain 11 extends about the end support sprockets 12 and 13which are rotatably attached to the inner sides of the upper side wallsof the plenum hereinafter described. a

Guide rollers 14 and 15 are also rotatably attached to the inner side ofa side wall of the plenum and are arranged to urge the chain 11 intoengagement with the drive sprockets 10.

A guide bar 16 is secured to the inner surface of the side wall of theplenum and extends outwardly to engage the chain 11 to guide andmaintain the chain downward into engagement with the sprockets whichrotate the guide rollers 17, as hereinafter described.

The specific construction of the rollers 17 will be hereinafterdescribed, but suffice it to say at this point that there is a singlelayer of parallel rollers at the entry portion of the machine asindicated at 17a (FIGURE H) and that at a point beginning just prior tothe vertical extension of the rollers 17, the rollers become parallelpairs of rows of rollers in co-acting relationship, as indicated at 18,and as will be hereinafter described.

At the points where the pairs of rollers 17 make right angular turns,there are turning rollers 19 which turn the film passing through thedevice right angularly in the manner hereinafter described.

The plenum 1 is constructed to provide an entry portion having sidewalls 20 between which are rotatably mounted the entry roller 17a.

The side frame members of the plenum (see FIGURE V) are spaced from theends of the air duct and roller mount walls by spacer brackets 21 toprovide air circulation passages 35 and 36 at the ends of the plenum forthe purposes hereinafter mentioned.

The plenum includes a continuous encasement 22 in which are mountedinner partitions 22b providing air flow channels 22a, 23 and 23a.

The elongated circulation ports 24 and 25 are provided through the walls22b of the circulation channels.

The vertical film conveyor passages in which rollers 17 are rotatablymounted are indicated at 26 and 27. The passages 26 and 27 extendbetween the inner and outer circulation channels 22a, 23 and 23a. Theupper and lower ends of the circulation channels are closed as indicatedin FIGURE II, but the outer ends thereof are open, as indicated at 28,28a and 29 in FIGURE V. The ends of the channels 22a, 23, and 23aopposite the open ends are closed as indicated at 32, 32a and 33.

The vertical film pass channels 26 and 27 are provided with air returnports 34 through the side walls 30a and 31a thereof for the purposeshereinafter described.

Air circulation channels 35 and 36 are provided at the outer ends of theair circulation channels 22a, 23 and 23a. The plenum 1 is extended bywalls, indicated at 37a and 37b, to provide an air return passage 37,which communicates with the end ducts 35 and 36. A passage 38 isprovided through the wall of the return passage 37 which communicateswith the fan housing 39a in which the fan 39 is rotatably mounted.

The fan 39 is rotated by an electric motor 40. The fan discharges airthrough a discharge duct 41 secured to the fan housing 39a. Thedischarge duct 41 is connected by flexible joinder members 42 and 43 tothe heater housing 45a by means of suitable attachment rings 41a and41b. The heater housing 45a is secured to the wall 44a of the passage 44and is attached to the side plenum wall 22 by suitable extension flange45b. The discharge passage 44 communicates with the air conduit space 36at one side of the plenum.

A heater 45, which may be heated by suitable electric power, is mountedin the heater housing 45a so that air discharged by the fan 39 throughthe ducts 41 and 44 will pass over the heater 45 and heat will beimparted thereto.

The motor 40 is mounted to, and supported by, a platform 46 which issecured to the duct frame 37a by means of angular braces 47 (FIGURE II).Said braces are secured to the frame extension 48.

Typical mountings of the rollers 17 are illustrated in FIGURES VI andIX. 1 l v The endsof the rollers 17 are rotatably mountedon bearings 51secured inside the outer ends of the tubular cores 52 of said rollers.The inner race of each bearing 51 has a threaded extension -49thereonwhich extends through passages in the opposite end walls 30 and 30a and31-3la of the film passages 26 and 27 of the plenum. A lock washer 50ais positioned about the threaded shaft 49' .The shafts 49 are fixed inplace by nuts 50 threaded thereupon against the lock washers 50a.

Each of the rollers 17 includes a metal tubular core 52 which hasresilient rubber or plastic material 53 bonded to the outer surfacethereof and formed or molded with spaced rounded ribs 54 thereon.Sprockets 55 (FIG- URE VI) are fixed about-one end of the cores 52. Thesprockets 55 on adjacent rollers 17 are offset longitudinal- 1y thereof,as shown in FIGURE VI, so that the teeth thereon may engage the dualtracks of the drive chain 11.

It will be observed from FIGURE VI that the ribs 54 on adjacent parallelrollers are staggered with relationship to each other and that the outeredges thereof slightly overlap. Thus, it will be seen that when aphotographic film or other flat article 56 is passed therebetween, sameis grippingly engaged by the ribs and slightly fiexed between the ribsso that it is maintained in flat state as it is conveyed between theribs as the rollers 17 rotate, yet there is no undue pressure impartedthereto at any given point as would be the case if pressed betweenadjoining ribs or between the surfaces of resilient rollers. The spacingof the ribs 54 provides spaces 17a and 17b between the ribs on oppositesides of the film 56 through which heated air may circulate and therebyuniformly expose both sides of the film to air flow as the film istransported through the machine.

It will be observed that the pairs of parallel rollers '17, indicatedgenerally at 18, begins just prior to the entry of the film beingtransported thereby into the vertical film passage 26 and that the pairsof rollers indicated at 18 return to horizontal position after the filmleaves the vertical outlet film transfer passage 27 For the purpose ofright angularly turning the film for entry into and out of thevertically disposed film transfer passages 26 and 27 and for turningsame at the lower ends of said passages there are provided turningrollers 19 which are interposed between the transfer roller 17 at suchpoints. 0 The turning rollers 19 prevent the film from continumg to movein the same direction because it intercepts same and turns the edgethereof in a right angular direction to cause it to be grippinglyengaged between pairs of rollers arranged on a different plane. Therollers 19 are constructed and mounted exactly as rollers 17, save andexcept that it is smaller in diameter and the ribs thereon are flattenedon the outer edge, as indicated at 56 (FIGURE IX).

Furthermore, turning rollers 19 are rotated through gears 57 secured tothe ends thereof which mesh with gears 58 secured to rollers 17 at theupper and lower ends of the vertical column of rollers mounted in thefilm transfer passages 26 and 27. It will be noted from FIG- URE I thatthe gears 57 and 58 are secured to the ends of rollers 17 and 19opposite the chain drives therefor. Thus, the rollers 19 are rotatedthrough the rollers 17 x which in turn are rotated by the drive chain11.

The operation and function of the device hereinbefore described is asfollows:

The motor 5 is energized, which rotates the drive chain 11 through thedrive gears 8, 9, and sprocket 10. The speed of motor 5 could be variedas by a variable rheostat through which power is supplied. The drivechain 11 rotates the rollers 17 by interaction of the drive chain trackswith the sprockets 55 secured to the ends of the rollers. It will benoted that the chain 11 rotates about the guide rollers 12 and 13 andpasses downwardly through the film conveyor channel 26 below the lowerend of the central air conduit 23, and upwardly through the verticalfilm conveyor channel 27. As the chain rotates, the adjoining surfacesof the double rollers 18 rotate in the same direction so that filmgripped therebetween, as shown in FIGURE VI, will be progressivelyconveyed between the adjoining pairs of rollers downwardly through thevertical channel 26 about the lower end of the conduit 23, upwardlythrough the vertical channel 27 and outwardly of the machine to bedeposited on the discharge chute 59.

Film which has been passed through developer fluid and is wet isdeposited either by hand or by a conveyor upon the single layer ofrollers indicated at 17a. It is carried on the single layer of rollers17a until it reaches the double layer of rollers '18 at which time theedge thereof is engaged between the ribs 54 in the manner shown inFIGURE VI, and is moved by frictional engagement between ribs and thefilm through the film transfer passages.

The fan 39 discharges air through passage 41 and the air passes throughand about the heater 45 where it is heated and forced through open ends28, 28a and 29 of the circulation channels 22a, 23 and 23a. The heatedair is forced to pass through the passages 24 and 25 into the filmtransfer passages 26 and 27 (FIGURE V) in order to reach the returnports 34 at the opposite side of the plenum. The heated air passesthrough the return ports 34, through end passage 35 and fan inletpassage 38 to be re-circulated through the system in the mannerhereinbefore described, and as indicated by direction arrows in FIGUREV. Thus the air is forced about the parallel rollers 17 and through thespaces 17a and 17b on opposite sides of the film 56 so as to expose bothsides of the film to the moving, heated air uniformly and continuouslyas the film moves through and about the vertical film transfer channels26 and 27.

The vertical disposal of the film transfer channels 26 and 27 not onlyprovides for the uniform circulation of air currents over the film as itpasses therethrough, but same conserves space in that the maximum lengthof conveyor within a heated chamber is attained with the minimum amountof linear space. Thereby the device is compact and occupies a minimumarea of floor space in the film processing area.

Another advantage of the machine is that it will convey and dry film ofdifferent dimensions. The only requirement being that the film must bewide enough to be gripped by at least two adjacent ribs 54.

It will thus be seen that the device for drying photographic filmprovides for uniform drying of film as it is conveyed through themachine, grips and transfers the film in such a way as to prevent thecurling thereof as it dries, is rapid in its operation, and conservesspace and labor.

It will be understood that other and further forms of invention may bedevised without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

Having described my invention I claim:

1. In a device for drying photographic film or the like, a plenum;vertically disposed entrance and outlet conveyor channels in the plenum,a horizontally disposed conveyor channel joining the vertical channelsat the lower end thereof; parallel pairs of rollers rotatably mounted inthe channels arranged to grippingly engage a film therebetween; means torotate the pairs of said rollers in opposite directions to causeadjacent surfaces to move in the same direction; means for circulatingair through the channels and about the rollers.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 with the addition of means toheat the air as it circulates.

3. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the rollers haveresilient ribs longitudinally spaced thereon, the outer surfaces of theribs on opposed rollers being longitudinally spaced and slightlyoverlapped, providing air circulation passages between the ribs onopposite sides of film conveyed therethrough.

4. The combination called for in claim 1 with the addition of a singlelayer of conveyor rollers rotatably secured to the plenum arranged toconvey film or the like between the entrance to the parallel pairs ofrollers.

5. The combination called for in claim 1 with the addition of turnrollers rotatably disposed at the right angular turns connecting thevertical and horizontal conveyor channels arranged to engage and turnthe edge of film or the like passing between the rollers.

6. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the drive means for therollers comprises sprockets on adjacent ends of the rollers; acontinuous drive chain extending between the sprockets in operativeengagement therewith; and means to drive said drive chain.

7. The combination called for in claim 6 wherein the drive chain has adouble track; and the sprockets on adjacent rollers are staggered so asto engage dilferent tracks on said chain.

8. In a device of the class described, a plenum comprising, a horizontalentry area; spaced vertical conveyor channels joined at their lower endsby a horizontal conveyor channel; vertical air circulation passages onthe outside and in between the conveyor channels; the circulationpassages being open at one end and closed at the opposite ends; air flowpassages adjacent the ends of the circulation passages; the conveyorchannels being closed at their ends adjacent the open ends of thecirculation passages and having ports through opposite end walls; portsthrough the walls of the circulation channels communicating with thecirculation passages; a single horizontal layer of rollers rotatablymounted in the entry area; a double row of parallel rollers rotatablymounted in the conveyor channels, and terminating in a horizotnal doublelayer of rollers rotatably mounted to the plenum at the outlet endthereof; means to circulate air through the conveyor channels, air flowpassages, ports, passages and circulation passages; means tocontinuously rotate said rollers; and means to heat the air as itcirculates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,340,618 9/1967 Bentzman 341623,345,928 10/ 1967 Krehbiel -94 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., PrimaryExaminer.

A. D. HERRMANN, Assistant Examiner.

